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Officially known as the People’s Republic of China, the country is an East Asian sovereign state and shares borders with North Korea, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, India, Bhutan, Laos, Hong Kong, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Nepal, Burma, Vietnam and Macau. The country is a Communist single-party state with the seat of government based in the capital city, Beijing, and also has full control over the matters of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
The second largest country in the world, China covers over 9.6 million square kilometres of land and features a range of environments, cultures and peoples, as well as being home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world, Ancient China.

Stone Age History

China’s history is vast, stretching as far back as prehistory and recent archaeological evidence has shown the existence of humans, or pre-evolution humans, in the region as long ago as 2.24 Million Years. A cave discovered in Beijing was found to hold fossilized pre-evolved human remains and associated stone tools have been dated at between 680,000 and 780,000 BC. These fossilized are believed to be a Homo Erectus variant but Homo Sapien, or modern day human, fossils have been found which date back as far as 18,000 BC.

Bronze Age History

Legend holds that the first three sovereign nations and the first five emperors existed from 2500 BC onwards but no definite proof has been discovered, however, proto-writing has been documented in the area which dates back as far as 3000 BC. Also, scientific excavations in 1959 in Erlitou, Henan, have uncovered what are believed to be the remains of the once-considered-mythical Xia dynasty, claimed to have existed from around 2070 BC onwards.

However, the first Ancient Chinese dynasty to leave actual historical records was the Shang Dynasty which built up its own civilization along the Yellow River in Eastern China from 1600 BC onwards. They were known to use their own form of writing named the Oracle Bone Script and it is considered the very oldest form of Ancient Chinese writing found.

Iron Age History

However, the Shang were soon conquered by the Zhou in 1066 BC and they ruled on until around 475 BC, when their grip on the country was ripped apart by a variety of warlords. Due to the lack of a central governing body the various groups waged war on each other whilst forming seven sovereign states, each with its own government and military system.

In 221 BC, the state of Qin conquered the other six kingdoms and finally unified China for the first time in history under the name Qin Shi Huang. The emperor of Qin declared himself the First Emperor and imposed a variety of reforms all across the country in an attempt to unify the country further, these included the standardization of the Chinese language, currency, length of cart axles and measurements. However, due to the forced authoritarian policies, the dynasty only lasted until 206 BC when it completely fell apart through widespread rebellion.

From 206 BC onwards a truly unified China was ruled by the Han dynasty and it was this point that the country’s economy began to truly expand. The Han dynasty set up the Silk Road through Central Asia and after a time, Han China became the largest economy in the ancient world. The Han dynasty also adopted Confucianism and this rapidly became the state religion.

1st Century – 15th Century History

In 220 AD, the Han dynasty collapsed due to a variety of rebel attacks as well as the death of the Emperor at the time. One again China became a warzone as various factions battled one another regularly for territory.

In 581 AD, the Sui dynasty once again reunited China, however, this victory was short lived as they lost in the Goguryeo-Sui War and fell apart in 614. It was four years later when the Tang dynasty rose to power and under them, the country flourished under the rule of the new polity, developing new technology including engineering, woodblock printing, medicine, cartography, alchemy, air conditioning and even widespread literature and literacy. Buddhism also made its first appearance in history at this time.

However, the Tang were wiped out in 755 when the An Shi rebelled and destroyed the central government and looted the nearby settlements. It wasn’t until over two hundred years later that the Song Dynasty quelled the now warring nations and remaining splinter factions of previous dynasties.

The Song developed the country even more than the Tang had, establishing paper money for the first time in history as the currency and forming a permanent standing navy. It was at this time that the population size of the nation doubled thanks to the high standards created by the Song dynasty as well as the abundance of food and expansion of cultivated rice. Life became more civilized in general as well with the people developing landscape art, portrait painting, philosophy and many other arts and sciences as well as Confucianism.

Starting in the 13th century, however, the Mongol empire began to dominate the region and in 1271, Kublai Khan, the Mongol leader, set up the Yuan dynasty, wiping out the last of the Song in 1279. However, it was a simple peasant, Zhu Yuanzhang, who turned the tides in 1368, setting up the Ming dynasty.

Throughout his life, Zhu Yuanzhang had endured poverty, disease and many other hardships and it was these factors that created an empathetic heart in him and brought the country into a golden age. Through the Ming dynasty’s efforts, the country flourished and developed dramatically, creating a variety of new forms of literature, music, painting and theatre as well as many new technologies including new forms of smelting iron, a reformed Chinese calendar, famine relief, fertilizer, snorkelling gear and new designs of gunpowder weapons and technology as well as improved medical equipment and practices.

16th Century – 19th Century History

In 1644, a minor Ming official named Li Zicheng lead a peasant rebellion and captured Beijing, overthrowing the government and establishing the Qing Dynasty. The last imperial dynasty of China, the Ming were involved in two Opium wars with Britain between 1839 & 1842 and 1856 & 1860, subsequently experiencing western imperialism. Through the power of the country, China was forced to sign unbalanced agreements, give away territory and pay compensation to the British. This included allowing Britain to possess Hong Kong.

The country also began having internal issues resulting in the deaths of millions such as the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850’s and 1860’s, the Nien Rebellion (1851-1868), the Miao Rebellion (1854-1873), the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855-1867), the Panthay Rebellion (1856-1873) and the Dungan Revolt (1862-1877).
In the 19th Century the situation worsened as a famine hit northern China resulting in the deaths of over ten million people and many Chinese people began to emigrate to escape the crisis. In 1898, the Guangxu Emperor founded a new reform plan to set in place a constitutional monarchy, but before it could be utilized the Empress Dowager Cixi overthrew him in a coup d’état.

20th Century History

At the start of the 20th Century in 1899-1901, the Boxer Rebellion struck; following this the Xinhai Revolution of 1911-1912 ended the Qing Dynasty and founded the Republic of China. The Nationalist Party at the time had their leader instated as the provisional president but it was short lived and the presidency was transferred to a former Qing general, Yuan Shikai, who proclaimed himself Emperor of China in 1915. Due to the widespread condemnation and without support from his own military force, he stepped down and re-established the republic. He died a year later.

Due to Yuan Shikai’s death, the country was left politically powerless due to the regional warlords controlling most of the territory around the government city of Beijing. The Nationalist party in the region was able to reunify the country under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek and after establishing themselves as the governing body in Ninjing, they began warring with the Communist party in 1927.

It was only when Japanese aggression in 1936 that China unified against Imperial Japan and the Second Sino-Japanese War commenced the following year. During the course of the war the Japanese military occupied Nanjing and massacred over two-hundred-thousand Chinese people and throughout the war over twenty-million civilians were killed. However, in 1945 Japan surrendered to China and the republic took over Taiwan. Despite the victory, the country was economically drained and war-ravaged, it wasn’t long before the National and Communist parties resumed war and it only ceased once more in 1949, shortly after the constitution was established.

The Nationalist Party retreated out of China and the Communist Party leader Chairman Mao Zedong declared the country the People’s Republic of China. The following year, China’s military forces captured Hainan and occupied Tibet, with the remainder of the Nationalist’s forces waging insurgency throughout western China during the 50’s. Through Mao’s leadership, the population practically doubles to over 900 million people at this time, however, this was horribly counterbalanced with his economic and social reform project, Mao’s Great Leap Forward, resulting in over forty-five million deaths from starvation and almost two million executions to proposed ‘counterrevolutionaries’.

It was in 1966 that Mao began his proposed Cultural Revolution, causing social rebellion across the nation for ten years until his death. Following Mao’s passing away, Deng Xiaoping rose into power and began largely reforming the economy, these reforms loosened the grip of the Communist Party on their citizen’s personal lives and disbanded the communes, prisonlike factories made up of civilian workers.

These events allowed China to slowly transform into a much greater mixed economy with a more open market and in 1982 the constitution was altered significantly to mirror the changes. However, the aggressive violence towards protesting students in Tiananmen Square in 1989 signalled that still not all was right within the Chinese government. Eventually, there was a shift and President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji rose to power in the 1990s.

Under the administration of the Premier and President, the country began flourish with over one-hundred-and-fifty-million people being pulled out of poverty as the economy managed to sustain an 11.2% average annual growth.

21st Century History

In 2001, the country joined the World Trade Organization and kept growing at a steady rate under the leadership of President Hu Jintao. But despite this, the rapid growth of the country had had severely negative effects on the country’s environment, resources and overall freedom of the people.

Due to a string of political disputes and scandals, the Communist Party shifted their leadership to Xi Jingping and Li Keqiang in 2013. Since then the Chinese government has begun large economic reforms and planned reforms to the prison system and the one-child policy.

Wording

Phonetic

English

Ni hao

Nee how

Hello/Hi

Zaijian

Zaijian

Good Bye!

Ni jiang Yingyu Ma / Putonhua

Nee jang Ing You Mah / Poh Tun Hoo Ah

Do you speak English / Mandarin?

Wo shi

War she

My name is…

Ni neng bangzhu wo ma?

Nee neng bang-zoo war mah

Can you help me?

Wo zhao…

War jow

I’m looking for…

Shi / Fou

She / Foo

Yes / No

Xiexie

Sheh-sheh

Mr / Mrs / Miss

Jintian / Xianzai

Jin-tee-en / See-an-zai

Today / Now

Mingtian / Zuotian

Ming-tee-en / Doo-oh-tee-en

Tomorrow / Yesterday

Zhege / Nage / Zai Zheli / Nali

Jeh-geh / Nah-geh / Zai Zeh-lee / Nah-lee

This / That / Here / There

Phrases

Above are a few common Mandarin phrases to help you get around.

Languages

China houses over fifty ethnic groups and almost three-hundred languages. Within it, the collective languages of Chinese origin are known as Hanyu and they span eight primary branches which sound and are spoken in completely different ways. The main variety of the Chinese language spoken is Mandarin, also known as Standard Chinese, which is spoken by 70% of the population. Other common varieties spoken are Cantonese, Wu, Yue, Min, Xiang, Gan and Hakka.

Besides the native Chinese languages, other state languages include Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur and Zhuang. Other common languages include English, which is taught in all schools, as well as Arabic, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese.

Religion

Although the country has been declared Atheist, it guarantees freedom of religion. That said, smaller groups have been persecuted in the past when they haven’t been government approved. Over fifty-six percent of the population follows traditional Chinese Folk Religion and around thirteen percent practice some level of Taoism which branches off from this. Although the largest religion in China is considered to be Buddhism with around 20% of the population following this path, many Abrahamic religions also make a strong presence in the region including Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Many other religions also make an appearance in the region including Hinduism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, Shenism, Zhuang Moism, Yi Bimoism, Tibetan Bon, Mongol Shamanism and many others.

Museums, Galleries & Architecture

Art Galleries and Museums in China are vast and spread across the region. These typically exhibit amazing works of Chinese origin and include Ceramics, Carving, Bronzes, Painting and one of the country’s national symbolic works, Calligraphy. The later artwork is majorly inspired by existing Asian cultures but it is important to note that Chinese artwork also pre-dates a lot of ancient civilizations and as such is thought to have inspired these groups in turn.

Famous museums within the country include the Beijing Art Museum which collects & researches into foreign arts and had recently had a millennium monument installed in the form of a sundial-like structure. Located in Pudong, Shangai, China, the China Art Museum was founded in 1956 and rebuilt in 1986 to collect and exhibit modern Chinese art. Finally, China’s most famous museum and structure is the Forbidden City, constructed in the early 15th Century the structure was used for almost five hundred years for royalty and high-ranking officials alone, now however, it is used as a World Heritage Site and Museum and is visited by millions every year.

It’s also important to note China’s involvement with a variety of different practices and technology. The Chinese are accredited in creating the world’s oldest board game, Wei Chi, now known in Go, in the 11th Century BC. Additionally, the country is home to the creations of Ice Cream, thought to have possibly be being developed as long ago as the 10th Century AD. These inventions and creations, along with many more, created more practical purposes for certain forms of architecture and demanded particular requirements.

Chinese architecture is incredibly distinctive and has strong roots in the various beliefs of the country including Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism among others. The style of the buildings incorporates an incredible sense of bilateral symmetry to symbolize balance, an important trait in Buddhism, as well as additional small buildings placed on the sides of the main building to help keep the balanced motif working. However, the gardens in and around Chinese style buildings tends to be incredibly strongly contrasted with a purely asymmetrical design, depicting flow in nature and of the soul.

Clothing, Dress Style & Etiquette

Today, China is highly westernized and as a result the nationals don’t tend to wear classical clothing unless it is for a celebration and/or annual/seasonal event. However, during these events the close are designed to be incredibly brightly coloured and are especially prominent with shades of red, and to a lesser extent, blue. The clothing style tends to be quite long and flowing as to not restrict movement and create a sense of elegance. Finally, it is common for longer-length style clothes to be embroidered with symbols and imagery, typically of country icons such as dragons, tigers, cranes and flowers of varying types.

Traditionally, the colours, imagery and styles used varied greatly throughout the years and across the social classes, especially when pertaining to that of royalty or nobles. For example, it was common for the emperor to wear white and yellow robes during the Qing dynasty while during the Qin dynasty, the emperor wore darker colours, typically blacks and reds or dark oranges. However, the symbol of the dragon is always associated strongly with royalty in every scenario.

Literature, Poetry, Music & Dance

Literature in the Chinese region dates back thousands of years, even ancient court records dating back to the year 841 BC have been found. As far as poetry goes, the Shijing (Classic of Poetry) dates back to the 10th Century BC and features over three-hundred poems, songs and hymns. Whilst prose dating back to the 9th Century BC and fiction works such as ‘A New Account of the Tales of the World’ has been dated back as far as the 4th Century AD.

Modern literature has seen authors such as Liu E and Wu Woyao from the 19th Century, as well as 20th Century authors Mu Shiying, Shi Zhecun and Liu Na’ou, have universally recognized works. However, it is important to mention that due to the highly westernized culture that China has, many western books such as the Harry Potter series are incredibly popular, especially among the youth.

Popular contemporary music and dance includes Pop, Rock, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop and Opera but historically a wide variety of instruments and music types have been seen throughout the country. These include stringed instruments such as the Takim (a stringed instrument with a movable bridge and up to fifty strings) and the Erhu (a two-stringed fiddle) were commonplace for clear sounds as well as the Yangqin, a type of Xylophone. For percussion, the Muyu, one of many types of drum, would have been used.

Calendar & Events

The Chinese typically base their events around their own calendar which runs independent of the Gregorian calendar used worldwide. The calendar features events such as Chinese New Year itself which is celebrated with fireworks and a variety of traditions based on native beliefs in the region. On the 15th day of the celebrations the country holds Lantern Festivals in towns throughout the nation which sees a lantern parade and a lion dance as well as a variety of meals including Tangyuan (a type of rice flour in hot water).

Later on in late February to early March, the Zhonghe Festival (Blue Dragon Festival) sees the consumption of Chinese pancakes and noodles as well as a large amount of cleaning throughout the house. Towards the end of March to the beginning of April, Shangsi, Traditional Chinese Women’s Day, is celebrated and in early April, more cleaning takes place as well as offering being placed at ancestral gravesites during Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival.

Towards the end of May to the middle of June, the Duanwu, or Dragon Boat, festival takes place which sees the Dragon boat races occur and dumplings wrapped in lotus leaves are consumed. The Night of Sevens, Qixi, is celebrated towards the middle of August and sees the girls of villages pray to Zhainu for wisdom and offer paper items as offerings at the temples. In the Ghost Festival at the end of August, it is tradition to burn fake paper money and make offerings to ancestors to comfort them in the afterlife and keep them from troubling the living.

Around the middle of September, the Moon Festival takes place and families gather to have a meal together and eat Mooncake. Following this in mid-October, the Chongyang (Double Ninth) Festival sees outings, mountain climbing and visiting the graves of ancestors to pay respects. During the Water Lantern Festival, meanwhile, flower shaped lanterns are sent along the rivers at sundown to help guide spirits home. Then during December, the Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) Festival is celebrated with the consumption of Tangyuan and Jiuniang (yeast soup) as well as a family meal and ancestor worship. Finally, Laba congee is eaten during the Laba Festival in early to mid-January, when it is believed that Buddha gained enlightenment.

China features a variety of nightlife with the cities of Beijing and Shanghai as hotspots for bars, pubs and clubs. You don’t have to look far in the region to find a buzzing atmosphere, a cold drink and a good night out.

Featuring a club, a cocktail lounge and a restaurant, M1NT in Shanghai features a unique contemporary style complete with a shark tank right by the entryway to the area, the club also features private access for VIPs and a priority access for registered members.

Bar Rouge, also in Shanghai, features a wondrously spectacular view of the riverside skyline as well as a chic modern stylization all around the club, developed to mimic the high life of Shanghai’s deep nightlife scene.

Featuring both a bar and lounge, the Moroccan-styled Babarossa has been situated next to a small lake inside Central Peoples Park and is known to host many of Asia’s top DJs on each of its three floors.

Featuring a brilliant American Metropolis theme and hosting a range of DJs and theme nights including Live Jazz, Swinging and Disco music, The Apartment in Shanghai has been modelled to help American and European expatriates feel at home during their time in China.

Fitted with a vibrant wall-to-wall sea-water fish tank, this Japanese sushi bar and restaurant has been designed to stimulate a relaxed atmosphere, it’s in the name, Aquarium.

Lush Bar in Beijing serves beautifully-mixed cocktails seven days a week and exhibits a variety of events and theme evenings. Since it’s opening in 2003, Lush has been mainly targeted towards students but non-students do commonly make appearances there.

Suzy’s Lounge Bar in Shenzhen has been fitted with a retro design to give off an exclusively unique American 50’s atmosphere, complete with pool tables, TVs and a well-staffed bar from 5pm into the early hours of the night.

An excellent Sports Bar in Shenzhen, the X-TA-SEA Sports Bar & Restaurant has been designed to appeal to a range of Western audiences and is stocked with a variety of European and American beers, ciders, ales, stouts and many others, as well as meals to compliment.

Another European-themed venue, the Abbey Road Café, Bar & Food features outdoor tables with shaded umbrellas and is always fully stocked with a wide array of European alcohol types as well as complimenting meals.

Highly modern yet fantastically stylish, the Zinc Café Bar serves a wide variety of drinks and hosts all sorts of nights exhibiting an even wider variety of music from all over the world.

Money

China’s currency is called Renminbi, also known as RMB and CNY, with the basic unit being the Yuan. 1 Yuan is equivalent to 10 Jiao or 100 Fen. 1 Yuan is about equal to $0.16 or £0.10.

Bank notes are currently available in 1 Jiao, 2 Jiao, 5 Jiao, 1 Yuan, 2 Yuan, 5 Yuan, 10 Yuan, 50 Yuan and 100 Yuan variants. Coins can be few and far between with coins from different eras not being widely produced any more and usage in differing regions varying. Coin sets produced include; Aluminium 1, 2 and 5 Fen coins from the 1950’s, Brass 1, 2 and 5 Jiao coins as well as Cupronickel 1 Yuan coins from the 1980’s and Aluminium 1 and 5 Jiao coins as well as 1 Yuan coins from the late 90’s to early 2000’s.

Economy

The largest exporter and second largest importer of all goods in the world, China is widely noted as the largest manufacturing economy in the world with a multitude of factories producing goods from clothes to computers. The current leader of China, Xi Jinping, the President of the Communist Party in the region, has declared that by 2021 China aims to be a moderately-rich society and by 2049, the country aims to become a fully developed nation. In the entire world, only three countries, China being one of them, has an economy above $10 Trillion.

Recently the country’s GDP has been valued at $5.87 trillion and as a result is accepted as the world’s second largest economy after the United States. However, it is likely that Chinese economy may surpass the US’s economy as early as 2020.

Banking

Banking in China is very much like banking in the west with a multitude of modern banks and many western banks having branches in the region. Additionally, over 1.2 Million merchants in China accept bank cards and over 170,000 ATMs exist throughout the region, allowing you to easily move without having to carry large amounts of money on your person.

There are three main account types open to Chinese expatriates, these include; Capital Accounts used for day-to-day usage and payroll income, Settlement Accounts also used frequently for day-to-day usage but not requiring an SAFE approval and the Foreign Debt Special Account which allows loans to be received from overseas.

Taxes

China utilizes a range of taxes throughout the country, the most prominent being the income tax which works as follows:

Local Employees set the base rate of tax as 3% of any Taxable Income under CNY 1.5k. This is increased to 10% when earning between 1.5k and 4.5k, 20% at 4.5k to 9k, 25% at 9k to 35k, 30% at 35k to 55k, 35% at 55k to 80k and 45% at 80k+.

However, foreign employees work on an additional tax system based on the local one. First, the system is broken into two sub branches to separate base-level employees from senior executives. Next it is broken down again based on the duration of the individual’s stay.

Regular Foreign Employees are typically only taxed on their income provided that they’ve been in the country for at least 90 days but Senior Executives can be taxed from as early as day one of arrival in China. The amount of tax applied may increase as the stay lengthens and the threshold tends to be increased at the 90 day, 180 day, 1 year and 5 year marks.

Chinese cuisine dates back as far as its history goes with recipes and a variety of food sources going back well over four thousand years. However, China’s most famous staple food is Rice which has been adapted in a multitude of cultivation methods and used in a wide array of dishes worldwide. Other staple sources in Chinese diets frequently include Noodles, Soybeans, Wheat and a variety of vegetables (Chinese Cabbage, Chinese Broccoli and Chinese Spinach) as well as herbs and seasonings (Scallion, Sesame Oil, Cinnamon and Parsley). Each region has its own variety of dishes too:

Dim Sum has rapidly risen to popularity all over the world and originates from the Guangdong province. The meaning of the name, ‘Touch Your Heart’, is a Cantonese term and seeing how attached people have become to the idea, it’s no wonder. The practice is to prepare a wide variety of very small dishes to allow participants to try as many different things as possible. These dishes often include Rice Rolls, Turnip Cakes, Soups, Buns and Lotus Leaf Rice.

In the Sichuan province, it is common to use bolder flavours in cooking such as those derived from the usage of Chilli Peppers, Garlic, Sesame Paste, Ginger and Sichuan Peppercorn. In the Shandong province, Braised Abalone and Braised Trepang dishes are common and the region also utilizes a range of seafood dishes such as Sweet & Sour Carp.

Fujian values slicing and cooking technique greatly and uses many coastal resources in its provincial cuisine which usually is served in a soup of sorts, these also include a range of woodland ingredients such as Bamboo Shoots and Edible Mushrooms. Meanwhile, the Hunan province contrasts strongly against this with a much greater emphasis on hot and spicy flavour.

Zhe cuisine from the Zhejiang region incorporates the Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo and Shanghai styles of cooking and as such it may use aspects of each such as bamboo shoots, freshwater fish & poultry, seafood and dim sum, respectively. Dishes from this region are reputed to be extremely fresh and have a soft flavour with a mellow fragrance.

The Jiangsu and Huaiyang provincial cuisine style Su is influenced strongly by the Zhejiang province’s Zhe cuisine style but puts a greater emphasis on seafood and freshwater fish. Dishes may include Clear Crab Shell Meatballs, Jingling Salted Dried Duck and Farewell My Concubine (a stew made from a soft-shell turtle, often including mushrooms, chicken and wine).

The Hui cuisine style from the Huizhou province is similar to the Su cuisine style but errs away from seafood and focuses more on a wider array of local herbs and vegetables, especially bamboo and mushrooms. Other popular food includes Xinjiang Islamic Barbeque, Tibetan Cuisine and Mongolian Hotpot.

In addition to a wide variety of meals and dishes, sweets, desserts and cakes are widespread in the region as well as custards, jellies and the China-originated ice cream. China is also very well known for brewing many types of Chinese tea such as White Tea, Black Tea, Green Tea, Oolong Tea, Scented Tea, Compressed Tea and Medicinal Herbal Tea, China is also additionally the world’s largest exporter of Green Tea.

VISA Requirements

All entrants into China require ID, a passport with at least six months remaining and a completed Visa Application Form, but depending on the type of VISA you want to acquire, the additional requirements may change significantly. Relevant types of VISA include types D (Residence), L (Tourist) and Z (Employment).
Those intending to reside in China permanently with a Residence VISA (Type D) additionally require both the original and a photocopy of the Confirmation Form for Foreigners Permanent Residence Status issued by the Ministry of Public Security of China.

The Tourist VISA (Type L) allows you to stay between 30 and 90 days in the country and must be renewed after every 30 days. These will typically require photocopies of roundtrip or one-way airline tickets, photocopies of hotel reservations during your stay or a certificate of accommodation in China, an International Insurance Certificate, a Certificate of Employment or Proof of Income, a letter of invitation from family members or spouses living in China (if applicable) and any letters of invitation from friends living in China.

The Employment VISA (Type Z) is issued to those wishing to occupy a working position in China, as well as their accompanying family members. The documents required include a notification of VISA issued by a Chinese authority, a family record of civil status of a photocopy of the family record book, a Medical Certificate and one of several documents including:

An Employment License issues by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the People’s Republic of China

Ratification by the representative office of foreign companies in China issued by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China

A Teaching Certificate of representative office of foreign companies in China issued by the National Administration of Industry and Commerce of the People’s Republic of China

A Work Permit issued by the Provincial Employment Service.

Health Care

Health in the country is of generally a high level and the country has one of the very longest histories of medicine in the world. The fertility rate is at 1.8 children per woman with the infant mortality rate at 25.3 per thousand live births. Due to over 100 million people in rural areas not having available medical care, however, the Chinese Government invested twenty-billion Renminbi into the healthcare system as well as building new medical system services within more remote regions of the country.

The main health problems that the country faces today includes a lack of sex education and knowledge of contraception as well as Hepatitis B and HIV spread as a result of this lack of knowledge, alongside an increased rate of abortions in recent years. Out of the 400 million individuals worldwide who have the Hepatitis B Virus, it’s estimated that over a third of these reside in China while with HIV, well over a million people are known to be infected.

Transportation

The main type of transportation in China are the railways which carry over 1 Trillion passenger-kilometres and 3 Trillion tonne-kilometres of freight each year. There are around 20 thousand locomotive vehicles owned by the National Railway System and there are over 90 thousand kilometres of track throughout the country. There are also over seven thousand kilometres of high speed railway lines capable of running trains moving at over three hundred kilometres an hour and a Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) train capable of moving at a top speed of 110 kilometres per hour.

During the 1930’s, China build a multitude of roads stretching all across the continent with around four million kilometres of road lying within the country. In addition to access to public vehicles, these roads will also support a range of Bus Transit options being implemented in China in the near future as well as many also already in place. The public roads also support many Trolleybus systems, Town tramway systems and Electric bicycles.

There are around thirty airlines operating in China which own over 1.5 thousand aeroplanes, it’s estimated that these services transport over 150 million passengers and over 22 million tons of cargo each and every year. Additionally, over 460 airports operate within the region.

China also has well over two thousand ports with a little over a hundred open to foreign ships and owns around 3.5 thousand merchant ships. The country also incorporates a range of rail ferry crossings off of the China coast. Additionally, over 110 thousand kilometres of rivers, streams, canals and lakes allow for over 1.7 trillion tons of freight/kilometre and 6.5 trillion passenger/kilometres to traverse between over five thousand inland ports each year.

Costa Rican Embassy in Beijing, China
Embassy of Costa Rica in Beijing, China
Jianguomenwai Waijiao Gongyu Yu 1-5-41 COP
Beijing 100600, China
• City: Beijing
Phone: (008610) 65324157
Fax: (008610) 65324546
Email: embajadacrchina@gmail.com
Office Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 hours (Beijing time)
Details: Tourist Visa Requirements Not all persons wishing to travel to Costa Rica need a visa, this will depend on your nationality, purpose of the visit, country of residence and length of your stay.
If you need to enter the country several times per year and your nationality requires a visa, you can apply for a Multiple Visa.
Visa requirements or exemptions are based on existing agreements or international treaties.
The visa does not guarantee the entry to Costa Rica. This depends on the immigration officer upon arrival.

Greenlandic Consulate in Hong Kong, China
Royal Danish Consulate General in Hong Kong, China
Suite 2402 B, Great Eagle Centre
23 Harbour Road, Wanchai
Hong Kong
• City: Hong Kong
Phone: +852 2827 8101
Fax: +852 2827 4555
Website: http://www.gkhongkong.um.dk
Email: hkggkl@um.dk
Office Hours: Kontortider: Monday to Thursday: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Friday: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm Visa: Monday to Friday: 10:00 am to 12:00 noon
Details: The Faroe Islands and Greenland are part of the Kingdom of Denmark. As a main principle, the Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark are the responsibility of the Danish government.

Greenlandic Consulate in Shanghai, China
Royal Danish Consulate General in Shanghai, China
Room 701, Shanghai
International Trade Center
No. 2201, Yan'an Xi Lu
Shanghai 200336
• City: Shanghai
Phone: +86 (21) 6209 0500
Fax: +86 (21) 6209 0504
Website: http://www.gkshanghai.um.dk
Email: shagkl@um.dk
Details: The Faroe Islands and Greenland are part of the Kingdom of Denmark. As a main principle, the Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark are the responsibility of the Danish government.

China has almost 300 million telephone lines in use and houses over a billion mobile phone subscribers, all on country code 86. The telecommunications in the country are vast and have seen over 300 million text messages get sent every year.

Internet

With the country’s domain name as .cn, there are three ISPs in the country with over half a billion subscribers and over 13.5 million hosts. Of these half billion subscribers over 365 million of them utilize a Broadband connection and there is estimated to be over 53 billion computers in the country at roughly four per person.

Recently due to the new building work around the country, the nation’s ISP’s have taken the opportunity to begin laying fibre optic cables to increase the average broadband speed from the current speed at 1mb/s.

It is important to note that most forms of social media and most video viewing websites in China are banned and blocked by the ISPs.

Communications

There are an estimated 450 million Radios in China and the country hosts its own radio stations on AM 369, FM 259 and Shortwave 45. Television companies number over 360 and broadcast stations are at around 3500, but within the country’s population itself, around 500 million TV’s are owned.

Weather & Climate

China’s landscape is far and wide, varying greatly across the region from tropical beaches to dense forest and jungle life as well as large deserts and huge glaciers plateaus on mountain tops. The wildlife is considered some of the most diverse in the world with creatures such as the Giant Panda, the country’s icon, within its boundaries.

This huge variation in landscape, fauna and flora is reflective of the even wider variety of weather conditions and climate in the region, with the northern lands dropping down to -52.3 degrees Centigrade (-62.1 degrees Fahrenheit) during the winter months and the southern lands rising as high as 50.2 degrees Centigrade (122.4 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer months. Sunshine duration varies too, with less than 1100 hours a year in parts of Sichuan and Chongqing to over 3400 hours in Qinghai. Typically speaking, the further north you are, the sunnier yet colder it will be. Meanwhile the rainfall over the region tends to be shifted a little with the south-east receiving as high as 1500mm of rain a year whilst the north-west tends to receive less than 100mm a year.

Holidays

All over China there are popular tourist hotspots and vacation destinations, below we look at some of the top hotels across the country:

The Emperor Beijing Forbidden City has been decked out with a smooth modern style featuring vibrant colours, clean whites and gorgeously suave curves all over. It entails a twenty-four-hour butler service for each and every room and includes a rooftop restaurant full of stunning views.

Built into Beijing’s World Trade Centre Complex, the Shangri-la China World Summit Wing overlooks the entire city and utilizes a strong contemporary style inspired by traditional Victorian décor and colour schemes. The hotel also includes a twenty-four-hour gym, a spa and four restaurants.

The SSAW Hotel in Shanghai has been placed perfectly within the heart of the city and is just a few minutes’ walk away from Yu Garden, the local metro station, the Bund and Lujiazui Financial District. The rooms each feature a usual western style but the lobbies are decorated with a much more dedicated Asian style.

Gateway to Xintiandi in Shanghai, also known as the city’s entertainment centre, the Langham Xintiandi features a delectable delicatessen, Chuan Spa and a twenty-five-meter indoor pool, the hotel has been rated five stars numerous times for a reason. Guests can enjoy highly modern yet simply styled rooms for a touch of class during their stay.

Meanwhile in Guangzhou, the Oakwood Premier holds spa treatments, a semi-sheltered pool and a twenty-four-hour gym within its walls as well as a private sauna and free internet for its many rooms. The hotel has a beautiful view of the city and each room features full kitchen facilities, a flat screen TV and a living room.

Five-stars and located in the city centre, the Four Seasons Hotel in Guangzhou features an indoor pool, hot tubs and seven different options for dinner. Each room has been fitted with free Wi-Fi and a smooth style, complete with contrasting vibrant colours and a dedicated Asian motif.

The Shenzhen Kaili Hotel has been designed for high class and provides a luxury-level spa service, free high-speed internet and several entertainment options including access to its very own Gold Coast Spa Club, allowing the use of the sauna, water jet massages and one of several steam baths.

Also based in Shenzhen is the Ritz-Carlton and the hotel speaks volumes of luxurious living, including an outdoor pool and seven dining options, as well as a beautifully rich style and contemporary décor. Each room features a large flat-screen satellite TV and a DVD player as well as a minibar and a free daily paper.

Featuring a fitness center, free parking and free internet access Citadines Central Xi’an is located in the heart of the city and entails many modern lobbies with a distinctive Asian décor motif. The rooms themselves come with laundry and dry cleaning services as well as a kitchenette and a cable TV.

Sofitel Xian On Renmin Square has been designed with a unique contemporary style in mind. The rooms are incredibly spacious and have been stylized for a sense of clarity and peace, ensuring you’ll always have a good night’s sleep. The hotel also features three bars and four restaurants and easy access to Xianyang International Airport and Xian Station.

Although bringing children to China isn’t usually a problem, the culture shock can be a huge factor on how easy it is to raise them within the country, this changes based on their age:

Finding domestic help to look after recent births isn’t difficult, most expats with young children have at least one person working part time as an Ayi (Auntie) who typically cooks, cleans, does laundry and takes care of children & pets. However, despite domestic help being in abundance, there’s a strong lack of equipment to help with child-rearing in the country, this includes but is not limited to public diaper-changing stations, restaurant high chairs, elevators not conductive to strollers and an incompatibility between public transportation and child car seats.

Pre-schoolers will have a much easier time in China than their younger variants, able to pick up a secondary language with incredible ease and simplicity while still being able to find child rides and cheap toys on nearly every corner. The only problem is during potty-training, since it’s already a nightmare for adults to find bathrooms in the country, for a pre-schooler it’s even more intimidating.

Primary school children and teenagers share much of the same problems, a difficulty in finding music from their homeland, clothes fitted to their body shapes and tastes (especially during puberty for girls), and the break in communication between old friends from back home. The other problem that parents can struggle with is the ease of access to alcohol due to a lack of a minimum drinking age in the country, on the plus side the drug-scene in China is incredibly scarce and compared to the West it’s barely active.

Pets can be incredibly easy or impossible to import into the country dependant on what sort of animal you are bringing in, for example; birds, rodents, ferrets, rabbits, snakes and fish are not allowed to be imported but cats can be imported without registration with the Chinese authorities. Dogs, however, need to be registered upon arrival and require a yearly fee of CNY 1,000 to 2,000 dependant on where you are living (the city centre is typically more expensive). It is important to mention that only Z type (Employment) VISA holders are allowed to import pets and only one pet per Z type VISA holder.

Typically upon arrival within the country, the animal will be held in quarantine for seven days, if it is approved as healthy after this time then you will be able to pay the basic CNY 1,000 fee and collect your pet, although typically it will have to be quarantined at home for a further twenty-three days following collection.
All imported pets require the following:

A Vaccination Record (Rabies, Cat Flu and Feline Encephalitis, as applicable, no less than 30 days before your departure to China and no more than one year prior to entry).

An International Health Certificate (dated less than 14 days prior to arrival and including all information concerning its name, species and breed, age, weight (and height for dogs), gender and a statement that the pet is vaccinated and healthy).

A copy of the owner’s passport, arrival date and flight number (please note that the owner’s name in the Vaccination Record and Health Certificate must be the same as their legal name in their passport).

All dogs must be licensed yearly and be registered with the local police department and this is vital as the police are cracking down on unlicensed dogs. If your dog is confiscated due to lacking a license then you may not be able to have your dog returned, even after paying the fine. For this you will require:

A copy of your Home’s Rent Contract or Property Certificate.

A one-inch colour photo of the owner.

A three-inch, side-on, colour photo of the full body of the dog.

A copy of your Passport.

A copy of your Working Permit.

A copy of your Residence Permission.

All dogs must be kept on-leash at all times, if your dog is found off-leash then it can be seized but there are some parks typically outside of the cities where, provided proof of licensing is shown upon entry, your dog can run free. Additionally, some parts of the cities require dogs to wear muzzles and it is recommended if your dog is prone to jumping at people, since just a single complaint can see confiscation.

Despite a lack of licensing needed for cats in the country, it is strongly advisednot to let your cats roam outside as, especially in the city centres, it is extremely common for cats to be stolen and processed for food, fur or just to be poisoned. We advise you to keep your cats indoors with the windows closed.

It is also important to mention that if you are taking any animal to a vet then you should ask for a Western-standard training certificate as non-overseas trained vets do not have the same medical care standards as those in the West.

All Chinese citizens are required by law to attend school for at least nine years with government provided primary institutions for six-to-eleven-year-olds and up as well as secondary institutions for twelve-to-eighteen-year-olds, although this can vary a little by province.

The region has also seen impressive results through its education system, since the 1950’s the country has successfully dropped its illiteracy rates in the young and middle-ages population from 80% down to 5%, also, today over 99% of all children in the country attend primary school and over 94% of all teenagers attend secondary school. It’s known that Asian academics are incredibly dedicated to their work and are known worldwide for their discipline and determination. It is due to these factors that Chinese students from Shanghai achieved the best results in mathematics, science and reading to date.

Additionally, investment in the education sector has been increased drastically within recent years and by 2020 the Ministry of Education aims to drop both illiteracy and semi-illiteracy rates below 3% and increase average schooling duration from 8 years to 11.

To teach in China you’ll need a Bachelor’s Degree or higher, ideally in line with what is being taught but not necessarily, at least two years of experience, be a native English speaker, have a teaching certificate and have a CRB/Police Check.

A CEFL, TEFL, Delta or other certificates are not considered to be full teaching qualifications but will go towards you during your application if you have them.

Living costs in China are incredibly cheap and you’ll find that money is easily conserved within this country. For example, a meal at a restaurant will cost you between CNY 20.00-70.00 (about $3.30-11.60 or £2.00-7.10), a litre of water costs around CNY 6.60 (about $1.10 or £0.70), 500kg of bread costs around CNY 10.30 ($1.70 or £1.00), a litre of milk costs about CNY 12.80 ($2.10 or £1.30) and twelve eggs costing around CNY 11.70 ($1.90 or £1.20).

Monthly rent is just as cheap in the city centre and even cheaper outside of there, in the city centre a one-bedroom apartment will cost you around CNY 3700 ($610 or £380) whilst outside of the city you’ll be paying CNY 2100 ($350 or £210), a three-bedroom apartment is also reflective of this, with the city centre costing around CNY 8100 ($1300 or £820) and outside the city centre being around CNY 4600 ($760 or £470).

Although there is an abundance of clubs, organizations, sporting groups and societies within the country, due to the social media controls these groups do not typically have any form of online presence.

Present throughout the region, China’s crime rate is somewhat high but still lower than many major cities and developed nations. The most common forms of crime in the region are black marketeering, human trafficking, money laundering, drug trafficking, fraud, corruption and circulation of fake currencies.

Numbers include $50 billion smuggled out of the country by corrupt officials between 1978 and 2003, 106,000 public officials in China being convinced of corruption in 2009, 300,000 illegal small arms being seized within the country in 1996 and an estimated 20,000 people being trafficked each year in and out of the country.